20 Nov 2013

Homemade Chicken Teppanyaki with Creamy Garlic Sauce

When was the last time I posted something on my blog?
It feels it has been forever.

To begin this post, I'm just letting you know that I am going back to Indonesia for good.
It's just too difficult to get a permanent residency here in Melbourne, especially with my marketing and HR majors.
I'll be leaving Melbourne on the 29 of November (only a few days from now).

I will miss Melbourne tremendously.. Especially its culinary scene..
I remember clearly that this food was one of the first food that my brother introduced to me when I first arrived in Melbourne 3 years ago.
It's none other than Kanpai's teppanyaki.
At first I didn't think it was that great, maybe because my brother raved about it so much that it kinda shoot my expectations through the roof.
But as the time goes by, it grew on me and I have to admit that their teppanyaki is sinfully addictive.
Its creamy, garlicky sauce poured over perfectly cooked tender beef slices, chicken pieces, fish and squid. Hmm..This dish is NOT something to be eaten everyday.
Not good for the arteries and also my wallet.

So one day my friend tried to make this dish and my boyfriend tasted it. After that, he has been asking me to make it too. oh boy.

I didn't do much research about this recipe mainly because I simply am too lazy to do so. I did read one article as a reference but I was relying on my memory and luck for this recipe and it turned out really well.
I used almost all the ingredients written in the original recipe but I changed most of the the method of cooking. Mine resulted in a much smoother (no chunks of garlic) and silkier sauce.

1. On the lowest heat setting on your stove, add 3 tbsp of olive oil and the smashed garlic cloves to a non-stick pan. Let the garlic infuse its flavour to the oil for 7-8 minute while constantly moving the garlic cloves around to prevent them from burning.

2. Once the garlic turn soft and a bit brown (not burnt!), crumble the beef cube and just 1 tbsp of the garlic powder. Stir them around for a few seconds

3. Add the cream and stir. Let the cream simmer for 5 minutes. Keep stirring and occasionally scrape the cream from the sides of the pan so the cream wont burn.

4. When its done, pour the sauce through a fine sieve into a bowl to get the garlic bits out from the sauce. With a wooden spoon, push the garlic bits that are strained on the sieve to squeeze out their last garlicky juice juice.

5. Put the sauce back on the pan used to make the sauce, and add the remaining garlic powder. Taste the sauce and adjust the taste according to your liking by adding salt, pepper or even more garlic powder if you want it to be more garlic kick.

6. Turn of the heat and add the butter and stir it until it melts. Set the sauce aside while we prepare the rest!

7. Arrange the chicken on a flat surface so it can get into a single layer. Season the chicken with a sprinkle of salt (not too much because the sauce itself is already salty) and pepper.

8. Drench the chicken with flour, shake off the excess and fry it in a pan with some olive oil over medium heat. Don't overcrowd the pan, do it in batches if needed. Cook the chicken strips until they turn golden brown, then rest them on kitchen paper. Set aside

9. For the mushroom, add a small amount of olive oil / butter in a pan and cook the mushroom for 3-4 minutes until they shrink a little bit. Season with a dash of salt and pepper.

10. Serve the chicken and mushroom drizzled with the sauce on top of warm bowl of rice.

Made this dish for le boyfriend and his friend. We gulped it down like champions eventhough we just ate a few hours before, because it's too hard to resist!

I reckon the sauce can be kept in the fridge for 1-2 days and will be beautiful served as a pasta sauce or on a pizza.